Interpol offers to help fight cricket corruption

Interpol proposes to collaborate with the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Indian cricket board to fight corruption, illegal gambling and the influence of the underworld on the gentleman's game, officials said yesterday.

Ronald K Noble

Interpol secretary general Ronald K Noble was on a two-day visit to India to initiate the proposal and has held meetings with ICC chief Sharad Pawar and officials of the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI).

Talking to reporters on the last day of his visit, Noble said one of the purpose of his India trip was to explore the possibility of a tie-up between Interpol and ICC and BCCI for eradicating corruption and "promoting integrity in sports."

"We know these young players are easy targets of unscrupulous (elements) and illegal gambling gangs. We want to prevent these young otherwise decent players from being corrupted," said the official of the world's top organisation that facilitates global police cooperation.

He said the tie-up, when it happens, would be on the same lines as global football body, FIFA, which already has a landmark agreement with Interpol for curbing any possible fixing and corruption. He said the response from BCCI officials was "positive". Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director AP Singh said the tie-up with Interpol would strengthen the anti-corruption apparatus of the cricketing bodies. The CBI is the official Interpol unit for India.

The idea of the tie-up with cricket bodies comes in the backdrop of three Pakistani cricketers convicted by a British court for spot-fixing that highlighted rampant betting and corruption plaguing the game.

In May this year, FIFA agreed to provide $20 million to Interpol over a 10-year period in an effort to help tackle the menace of global betting and to keep an eye on the activities of match-fixing syndicates.